Seriously, you all rock!  Thank you for the great ideas for recipes!  Keep them coming!

So, Brayden and I had a serious talk this morning and we’re calling a truce.  We’re going to be nice to each other today.  He even offered to pose for a few pictures this morning.  What a nice boy!

PS  The tip to getting a 1 year old to sit still for a couple of minutes is that you have to contain them.  For these pictures I used our old Bumbo.  He doesn’t really fit in it anymore and can get out, but it works wonders to get him to sit for 2 minutes.  And really, 2 minutes is all you get so work fast!  You can see the Bumbo in this picture.

You can get creative with it and incorporate whatever you use to contain them into the picture.  You can use a wagon, a bin that holds their toys, a laundry basket, a big comfy arm chair.  You see lots of pictures of Brayden in his high chair because it works well too!

K, I’m off to change a poopy diaper.  Ah, the glamorous life of being a mommy  Happy Friday everyone!

So, for those of you who have one year olds out there, what the heck are you feeding them?  Our doctor told us that we need to stop giving Brayden baby food.  But, baby food is SO easy.  I know that he’s getting the nutrition and enough food.  I’m a picky eater and it’s one of my biggest faults.  I hate being a picky eater and I’m embarrassed by how picky I am, but I just can’t help it.  I really want B to be a well rounded eater and like everything so I’m doing my best to introduce him to lots of different foods.  Also, I should tell you that I’m not a cook… AT ALL!  I never, ever, ever cook and I don’t really enjoy it.  But, I’m trying to learn.  I’ve been make him pancakes and eggs and he doesn’t like either of those.  So today I tried french toast with a sprinkle of cinnamon.  Well, that was not a good idea.  Turns out B is allergic to cinnamon!  He took one bite and started coughing and choking, but I thought he was being his normal drama queen self when it comes to meal time.  I gave him a couple of pats on the back and told him he was fine.  He kept crying and I proceeded to clean up the kitchen (taking my time mind you).  I finally took him upstairs for a bottle.  By the time he finished the bottle his whole left side of his face was red and swollen (including his eye)!  It was the scariest mommy moment I’ve had.  I called the doctor and she told me he was fine as long as his breathing was okay.  Thank goodness he didn’t eat more than one bite!  It cleared up pretty fast and is almost gone now.  

So, after my long story, my question is, what do you feed your kids?  I need recipes that are easy, fast, and nutritious.  If you have ideas post them here in the comments section so everyone can read them.  Just make sure they don’t have cinnamon in them

Thank you so much to all of you fabulous ladies who linked Mom*tog this week!  You rock!  Keep the love coming!

Halsey Happenings

Skelton Photography

Tukua Twins

30 Days

Lydia Photography

Tonya Joy

Brayden has been going through some growing pains this week.  Learning to assert his independence (aka throwing tantrums… constantly!).  So, I was excited to leave him with the sitter today to go photography this little 13 day old.  He was actually born on Brayden’s birthday!  More on the DrewB blog soon!

Today I’m going to start answering questions that I’ve received from all of my awesome readers.  I want to thank everyone for submitting questions.  I’ve gotten so many that there’s no way I can individually respond to you all, but I will be covering the topics that I think are appropriate for this blog.  I have received emails from people wanting to know things about wedding photography and about shooting family sessions.  Right now, the main focus of this blog is to help moms take better pictures of their own kids.  Not to help people take pictures of other peoples children.  The other focus is to connect with other moms who are professional photographers and talk about balancing a family while running your own business.  I will not be covering pricing on this blog as my clients are some of my readers and I don’t think it’s an appropriate place to discuss that.  I will also not be covering wedding photography.  While I may touch on it every now and then (because that is the main part of my business), I won’t be answering any questions about wedding photography here.  If you’d like to learn more about wedding photography, pricing and marketing you can always schedule a “Day With Drew”.  You can read about those sessions here, here, and here.

Okay, onto today’s topic.  The question comes from Paige:

Oh Drew this blog is my dream come true!  No joke!  Okay my question (which may make no sense) is how do you get the background blurred out so your main focus is the baby?  I just love how that looks and I can’t seem to achieve that look, is it a photo shop trick?  Thanks! Seriously awsome blog!!!!xo

Hi Paige!

This is super easy to do and is definitely not a photoshop trick.  But, you will need an SLR camera (the one where you can change the lenses) to achieve this look.  The key to getting your subject to stand out from the background is to shoot manual (it’s the “M” on your camera).  By shooting manual you can control all of your settings on your camera.  Shooting manual can seem like a daunting task and it will take a lot of practice to get used to it.  But, once you master it you’re images will look much better than letting your camera choose all of your settings.  

There are three things you have to worry about when shooting manual – ISO, Shutter Speed, and Appeture.  I’m going to try and explain these three things as simply as possible and I’m not going to get into all the technicalities.  

First, let’s talk about ISO.  The ISO speed is basically how fast your sensor will absorb light.  Generally the ISO speeds are 125, 160, 200, 250, 320, and so on.  The better the camera you have, the higher your ISO will go.  To make this as simple as possible all you really need to know is that you should always keep your ISO as low as possible.  The higher your ISO the more noise (that grainy, yucky stuff on your pictures) you will have.  When shooting outside in bright light I always keep my ISO at 125.  If you’re shooting indoors and without a flash you’ll have to bump it up.  

The next thing is Shutter Speed, which is simply how fast or slow your shutter opens.  The slower the shutter speed, the more light gets let in because it’s open for longer.  Make sense?  But, for kids, I never want to shoot lower than 100 (maybe 80 at the very lowest).  Anything lower than that you will get motion blur when your subject moves.  And we all know how much kids move!

Lastly, you have to control the Aperture (and also referred to as the f-stop).  This is the key part on how to separate your subject from the background.  The aperture is the focal length of the lens and this will probably be the trickest thing to explain.  Basically all you need to know is that the smaller the f-stop, the more light will be let in.  And the smaller the f-stop the more blurry the background will be.  There’s no need to analyze it.  It’s really that simple (but, if you want to get the complicated definition that will make your head hurt you can read it here).  I always shoot as wide open (the smallest f-stop possible) as my lens will allow.  Typically when I’m shooting with my 50 1.2 I will shoot at 2.0 if it’s just one subject.  If you add in more subject and they aren’t on the same plane, the people in the back will be out of focus.  A lot of stock lenses that come with the DSLR cameras will only stop down to 4.0 or 5.6.  That won’t allow you to get the background as blurry.  You can see my post on lenses to get an idea of what lens you may want to look into buying in order to achieve this look better.

So, what I do when I’m shooting is, first I set my ISO.  If I’m outside I will set it at 125.  Then I set my aperture.  Typically I will set it at 2.0.  Then, I focus on my subject and set the shutter speed.  When you look into your camera you’ll see a little scale (I have no idea what the technical term is).  On my camera it goes from -2 to 2.  When setting your shutter speed you typically want the dial to be right in the middle.  That’s how I know what to set my shutter speed at.  If it’s telling me that my shutter speed should be below 100 then I will bump up my ISO until my shutter speed can be higher than 100.  The only thing that you will be changing is the shutter speed and your ISO every now and then.

Whoa!  Does your head hurt yet?  It’s really not complicated.  Yes, it takes practice, but once you get it your pictures will improve so much!  You can use the portrait setting on your camera (the little face icon), or shoot on aperture priority, but the reason I don’t shoot on automatic is because your camera can make mistakes.  It may read the light on something other than your subject making them under or over exposed.  

Here are some examples that I took today.  

This first image was f2.0, 5000 shutter speed, and 250 ISO (only because I forgot to change it to 125, but it really doesn’t make too much of a difference).  See how separated Brayden is from the background?

This next image f8.0, shutter speed was 350, and the ISO was 250.  I think it still looks nice, but there’s definitely not as much blur in the background.

I hope all of this made sense.  I have no formal education in photography and am totally self taught so if you have super technical questions I’m probably not the person to ask, but what I do works for me so you should give it a try too!  Remember, practice makes perfect!  It will take some time to get used to, but don’t give up!  You can do it!

A lot of you had more questions about lenses so I’m going to try and address them.  First, let me say that lenses are a total choice of preference.  What works for me may not work for you.  You should really try and rent a lens before you buy.  I ALWAYS rent a lens before I buy it.  In Orange County you can rent from Samys camera (although I refuse to actually buy anything from them, but that’s a whole different post).  If you rent from Samys on a Friday after 3pm you get to keep it until Monday morning for the cost of a one day rental!  If you don’t live close to a big city with a camera store that rents lenses there are a couple of companies that will send you lenses that you want to rent.  How cool is that?  Borrow Lenses is one company that will do that.

Okay, onto the questions.

Tonya asked:  So you think the 1.2 is worth all those pennies! It is next on my list for sure…I love my 1.4…did you find a big difference between the 1.4 and 1.2?

Yes, I absolutely did.  But rent it first to see if YOU think it’s worth the investment!  The 50 1.4 was my first prime lens and I absolutely hated it.  I gave up prime lenses after using it a few times and then I dropped it and broke it.  Mine back focused a lot.  Maybe I just got a faulty one.  From what I’ve heard I think it’s an okay lens until you can afford the 1.2.  The difference is really incomparable in my opinion.  And I would love to see what you could do with the 50 1.2 because your pictures with the 1.4 are already awesome!

Bethany asked:  My question is, how often do you find yourself using your 24 mm and 85 mm. I have a 50 mm {want to upgrade though!!} and am now in the market to add to my bag! I was thinking I wanted a 35 mm and an 85 mm. Any thoughts? I pretty much have decided not to get a zoom of any sorts and stick with prime lenses because of the exact thing you mention…sharpness! {I have a Sigma zoom but am selling it!}

I use the 24 more than the 85.  I used to use the 85 a lot, but once I got the 50 I hardly ever use it.  Rent both the 24 and 35 and see what you like.  In my opinion I would go with the 24 because it’s wider.  You already have the 50 so the 35 may be too similar.  

Also, I know you said you are going to sell your Sigma but, I’m very much opposed to buying third party lenses.  Yes, they are less expensive, but you get what you pay for.  I think it’s well worth the wait to save a little more money and buy a good quality lens.

Simone asked:

I’m a Nikon girl and am really enjoying it. I’ve often thought of making the switch to Canon but I decided to stick with my Nikon gear since it’s so expensive to make the switch and they’re so close in competition. Anyway, I’ve started shooting with my 50mm 1.8 and can’t believe what a difference it makes compared the the 24-120mm 3.5 and other lenses I had been using. I’ve often thought about getting the 50mm 1.4. Do you think there is a big difference between the 1.8 and 1.4??

I’m not sure about Nikon and I never had the Canon 50 1.8, but I’m sure it’s a better lens.  However, like I’ve said over and over in this post, rent it!  That way you’ll know before investing.

Hope that clears some things up!  Happy Friday!  I’m super excited to shoot my first wedding in 2 1/2 months tomorrow.  Woohoo!

Thanks to these fabulous bloggers for spreading the Mom*tog love this week!  

So Divine Designs – Who also happens to be the designer of the Mom*tog logo and header!  More on her in a later post!

Ramblings of Kristi Bug – Who did so much to trick out this blog it’s ridiculous.  I don’t even know exactly what she did, but I know she made it more rad and more easy to navigate!

Adventures in Motherhood

Elizabeth Wiggs

Joys Hope

Jessica Jacob Photography

Margie’s Childcare

2under2whew

Little Graham Crackers

Mangebilder

Thanks for spreading the love, ladies!

*** If you blogged about Mom*tog this week and I didn’t link your site it means I didn’t see it on my statcounter.  Please send over the link.  I would love to see it and I’ll put your site in next week!

Happy Wednesday, Momtogs!  I plan on diving into some technical posts soon and I’m assuming everyone will want to know what kind of equipment I’m shooting with.  So, here we go!

I’m a Canon girl!  Always have been and probably always will be  I shoot with the Canon 5D and love it.  I’ll probably be upgrading to the Canon 5D Mark II very soon, but just haven’t gotten around to it yet.  For weddings I shoot with two camera bodies so it will be nice to not have to use my 30D anymore.

I’d say about 90% of the pictures you see with Brayden (and any other portrait shoots I do) are taken with the Canon 50mm 1.2 lens.  I LOVE that lens.  It’s expensive, but totally worth it!  

For weddings I shoot primarily with the 50 1.2, the 24 – 70 2.8, and the 70-200 2.8.  For weddings you really have to have the 70-200 2.8 although I only use it for the ceremony and a little bit of the reception.  I also have the 28 1.8, the 85 1.8, and the 15mm fisheye.  The 28 1.8 and 85 1.8 are great lenses that are relatively inexpensive.

I’m pretty partial to prime lenses.  Prime lenses are the lenses that can’t zoom.  I’m not going to lie.  It took a lot of getting use to.  You really have to learn to zoom with your feet rather than the lens.  But, I’ve found that  prime lenses are much more crisp.  

While you can still get great pictures with cameras like the Canon Rebel, it obviously helps to have a really good camera body and great glass.  But, I started out shooting with the Rebel and shot with it for a long time.  It’s a great little camera.  Your equipment is important, but an understanding of light, a good eye, and how to work your camera is more important in my opinion.

Well, for those of you in Southern California at least.  My friend, Courtney, sent me the info.  I’m going to go tomorrow in Fullerton to see if my picky eater likes this food any better.  Here’s the info: Tasty Baby Food.  Thanks for sending it over, Courtney!

The response from the backdrop post has been overwhelming!  I’m so glad it helped out so many people.  Here are a couple examples that were emailed to me by some fellow Mom*togs! 

From Annie:

From Eden:

And from Julie’s blog:

From Elizabeth Wiggs’ blog (btw she found this fabric in Istanbul!)

Thanks ladies for sending these!  Keep rocking it out!

***  When sending submissions please include your website (if you have one).  I’ll give you some link love!

First of all, thank you SO much for the overwhelming response to Momtog!  I appreciate all the comments and emails more than I can express.  This is a project I’ve been thinking about for some time and I’m so excited to see if come to life!  This blog is going to be great because of YOU!  Remember, I want this blog to be a dialogue so if there’s anything you want to see here, a product you want featured, a photographer or an awesome mom you want to see interviewed email me and we’ll make it happen!  Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Onto today’s topic!  I first learned about little Cora Paige through my friend Julie’s blog.  Cora was diagnosed with cancer in January and sadly lost her battle this past weekend.  Cora was less than a month younger than my Brayden and I just can’t imagine what her parents are going through right now.  It’s heartbreaking.

You may remember these headbands from Julie’s family shoot I did last month.

I got a lot of emails asking where you can buy them.  Well, Julie, being as generous and talented as she is, is donating all of the proceeds from her messy flowers and headbands to Cora’s playground fund.  How awesome is that?  I was lucky enough to get one of the original Cora Paige messy flowers and I will hang it on my bulletin board in my office when I receive it.  Stop by her shop and purchase one for yourself while you can!  There are only a few left, but Julie has organized a site where you can see all the products that are for sale for Cora’s playground.  Click here to start shopping!